NUS AY 13/14 Semester 1 Results

BEEEEP!!! WOOO YAYYY BAAA.

No, that's not me cheering. That was what woke me up this morning at 7.30AM. There's a soccer field next to my flat, and for some godforsaken reason there were people playing soccer at 7 .30 in the morning and the audience or whoever were cheering super loudly suddenly.

I lay in my bed awake for a few moments, wondering what time it was (it was still rather dark), though I deduced it couldn't be THAT early if there were people playing soccer (i.e. 4AM) so I checked my phone for the time. And saw that the SMS of Doom (TM) was in.



This post just contains my grades and thoughts, for my predictions and reviews for these modules you can refer to this link.



PL4880G - Positive Psychology

Predicted Grade: B/B+

Actual Grade: A-

Ah well, a pleasant surprise. I didn't do well for my individual essays (At first), but I guess my group presentations were more well-received by my prof than I thought. Finals weren't that difficult, just smoke and you can't be that far off (See my review for more info)

PL4880F - Addictive Behaviors

Predicted Grade: A-/A

Actual Grade: A

Cheers! My CA did really well, so as long as I didn't screw up my finals (I didn't think so after the exam), I should have been on track for A-/A at least. And I did! Though one of my group mates (who shared the same CA as me) got an A+ lol she wrote a better finals essay I guess. It's ok! Be content and happy for what you got! Don't do upward social comparisons!

GEK1063 - The Singlish Controversy

Predicted Grade: B- / B

Actual Grade: B+

This was the only result I was disappointed in LOL. You may be wondering 'what's wrong with this idiot, he surpassed his prediction and he's still complaining?'. Well, the plan was always to S/U this module, unless it pulled my CAP. My CAP is between 4-4.5, which meant I need an A- or an A to do so. This means it is the least economically (CAP-wise) profitable to S/U if I got a B+ (as it makes the smallest change in my CAP) ... and I did get a B+ ugh!

If only I got a B- or so, would make it more satisfying and worth it to S/U. Or an A-/A, which would pull my CAP. But ok la, I have no more S/U-able modules left, so I have to use my last S/U anyway. Up goes my CAP! (by 0.01 I think)



Final Notes

Quite satisfactory this sem I suppose, As are always good, even with an ugly line by its side. What's more important is with these results, I can more or less coast in my final sem - it's mathematically impossible for me to get First Class, and to drop below Second Upper I need to get around a 2-2.5 SAP (C or below average) for my thesis + 2 level 4000 mods.. which is quite unlikely. Thus next sem doesn't really matter so I guess I'll use my time to apply for jobs and stuff.
Thank God for the good results!

NUS AY 13/14 Semester 1 Module Review

Once again, I’m going to review the modules that I took this semester. 
If you have any questions, please send it to my email  atqhteo@gmail.com, or leave a comment below. Don't worry, there are no stupid questions! I've received many emails asking me all sorts of questions. I reply all of them :)

The modules covered in this post:

PL4880G (Positive Psychology)
PL4880F (Addictive Behaviors)
GEK1063 (The Singlish Controversy)

(I only took 3 modules this semester as I'm working on my Honors Thesis, which is a year long project and worth 3 modules)

I’ll answer 5 questions for each: What is it about? How’s the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips/How was the exam? Should you take it?

If you want to see previous reviews for

• PC1323/GEK1510, GEM2901, PL4207, LSM1303, PL3231, click this link


• PC1325/GEK1508, MKT1003X, PL3252, PL3234, PH2211, click this link.


• GEk1519, SE1101E, PL3236, PL3233, PL3240, click this link.


• PL1101E, NM1101E, PH1102E, LAF1201, PL2131, click this link.


• For PL2132, PL3232, SSB2216 , PL3235, PH2110, click this link.

Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.

How does NUS Module Preference Exercise work? (MPE)

(All information correct as of 9th December, 2013)

I've received several queries about the Module Preference Exercise (MPE), so I thought why not do a compiled blog post. This information is accurate for FASS MPE matters, I can't guarantee it applies for other faculties.

This blog post is structured as such - a FAQ style before the page break (denoted by a long line), and after the page break  is information available directly in the MPE portal.

These are actual questions I've received:

1) Can I take part in MPE if I don't have a major yet?
No, MPE is for pre-allocation of major modules. If you don't have a major yet this wouldn't work.

2) Is MPE first come first served?
No. From my understanding (FASS doesn't actually explain this explicitly, but I've never come across contradictory evidence, so this should be right), how MPE works is let's say a module has 40 slots available. As long as there are 40 or below students who MPE it, it will be preallocated to them. However, once the demand exceeds supply (i.e. 41 or more), no one will be preallocated, and everyone has to bid during CORS bidding for it.

3) Which modules can I MPE? Can I MPE a non-FASS module? How about a GEM?
The only modules you can MPE are your major modules. Thus if you are from FASS, the only modules you can MPE are logically FASS modules.

4) What is the probability I'll get the modules I indicated in MPE?
This is a similar question to 'how many points do you think X module will cost' - it varies each semester, and predictions will never be accurate. You can roughly gauge the popularity of a module by asking seniors, but don't expect it to be a reliable indicator of success. Some modules may be obviously more popular, such as compulsory/core modules.

 

The below is directly copied and pasted from within the MPE portal.

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Making of Modern Family - PL4880G edition

 

The idea came randomly.

We were discussing how we could present our Positive Psychology project, and someone threw up the idea of a Modern Family kind of theme. I latched on it immediately, and we explained to the rest what it was, and I happened to have some episodes on my laptop so we watched a few scenes for the sake of those who had not watched it before.

Ideas began forming in my mind, and I volunteered to write the script for the 'episode'.

Inspiration came from Ryan Higa and Modern Family itself - I ripped off quite a few used ideas. For instance, the opening scene of PL4880G edition was the opening scene of Season 1's pilot episode, albeit much shorter. The whole 'going into the room to check out on son and girlfriend' plot was also taken from Modern Family, though it was daughter and boyfriend there. The last 'pun/blackout' scene was clearly inspired by some of Ryan Higa's puns, with some of my own slipped in.

The characters were also inspired by Modern Family of course - a controlling mother, a thinks-he-is-cool Dad (the name Chill is a reference to Phil), and three siblings (though the genders are slightly different).

It was a great process producing this short film. The filming process was a real bitch, taking up well over 6 hours (though I guess that's really short for film standards) and multiple takes. We compromised a little on quality towards the last hour which was rather unfortunate, as it meant some jokes being cut out or accidentally left out.

I learnt quite a bit editing the film too. I learnt the importance of 'B rolls', the name given for those random scene shots like some cars passing by... a shot of the house ... a shot of birds running around.. some random calefare cycling.. basically filler shots. These filler shots help to make transitions a lot less awkward and jarring.

I also learnt the importance of multiple takes from different angles - they help a lot when you want to cut from one shot to another, to reduce the 'jumpiness' of the jump. We didn't have the luxury of having multiple takes from different angles so I had to make do with amateurish transition effects to reduce the jumpiness.

 

Here's the finished product!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCegYKMjXJo

CORS guide - Bidding for Dummies

Note: If you have any questions, or worse, notice anything wrong within this guide, either leave a comment or contact me at atqhteo@gmail.com

I decided to migrate this guide which I posted on realFASS last time over to my personal blog.

NUS AY 12/13 Semester 2 Results

Once again, I woke up early and tossed and turned. I think it was around 5AM when I woke and couldn't go back to sleep. It was time for the dreaded SMS of my results again.

Read on for my results.

NUS AY 12/13 Semester 2 Module Review

Once again, I’m going to review the modules that I took this semester. 
If you have any questions, please send it to my email  atqhteo@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.

The modules covered in this post:

PC1323/GEK1510 (Great Ideas in Contemporary Physics)

GEM2901 (Reporting Statistics in the Media)
PL4207 (Social Psychology: Theories and Methods)

LSM1303 (Animal Behavior)
PL3231 (Independent Research Project)

I’ll answer 5 questions for each: What is it about? How’s the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips? Should you take it?

If you want to see previous reviews for

• PC1325/GEK1508, MKT1003X, PL3252, PL3234, PH2211, click this link.
• GEK1519, SE1101E, PL3236, PL3233, PL3240, click this link.
• PL1101E, NM1101E, PH1102E, LAF1201, PL2131, click this link.
• For PL2132, PL3232, SSB2216 , PL3235, PH2110, click this link.

Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.

Aggressive chickens get more sex? Don't talk cock!

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="300"] Source: Myself[/caption]

 

Ok I wrote this blog entry for a school assignment, but I decided it wasn't good enough so I went to do an entirely new topic. Rather than just delete this, I decided to post it here. So. Tahdah.

---

We eat chicken so often, but how much do we actually know about them? Off the top of my head, I know that roosters crow every morning, hens lay eggs, and breast meat is really delicious. As you can see, my chicken knowledge is quite limited, so I thought it would be interesting to find out more about them.

Some animals have harems where a single dominant male has sexual relations with multiple females, and this harem master will protect his harem from other competing males. The most dominant male is usually the most aggressive/strongest one, as he is able to fight off other competitors. As a result, he is likely to be the most sexually active as well, given his control over the harem. The case is slightly different for the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="275"] The Brown Leghorn, a breed of chicken. (Source: Bullitt from Backyardchickens)[/caption]

Firstly, the proportion of males/females is artificially determined by the farmer/chicken-handler, usually harem-like with a few cocks and more hens. Next, Wood-gush (1957) found that aggressive behavior in the Brown Leghorn cock (a breed of the domestic fowl) was actually uncorrelated with sexual activity! In other words, the most aggressive cock did not want the most sex, despite winning the most fights. Wood-gush proposes that these two drives (aggression and sex) are stimulated by different hormones and thus operate independently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxWwrRO7oII

A video of a cockfight in the Philippines, where cockfighting is very popular.  

 

This leads to the question - if cocks do not have more sex despite being the dominant male, why do they expend so much energy to win fights to become the dominant male? I suppose the benefit is that they have 'first pick' at the hens of their choice, and it's their instinctive nature to want to ensure the reproductive success of themselves by dominating the social hierarchy, despite not actually having or wanting to have more sex.

 

 

Word Count: 299 words

References: Wood-Gush, D. G. M. (1957). Aggression and sexual activity in the Brown Leghorn cock. The British Journal of Animal Behavior, 5(1): 1-6.

Union Camp 2012 !

Union Camp ended less than 24 hours ago (I started this blog post 24 hours after UC, but it took me a few days to write + waiting for photos) , and I have A LOT of things to blog about in this post so it's going to be abit wordy I think? And lolol I realized I bitched about the councillors abit in my pre-UC post so dunno if I'll want them to read my blog. Oh well we'll see.

Pre Union Camp

As I'm sitting here less than 24 hours away from the start of UC (probably less if you include Day 0 which starts today),  I can't help feeling a sense of underwhelmingness (if such a word existed). There is none of that pre-camp hype that I felt for Arts Camp, and I'm almost leaning towards the 'not-looking-forward-to-this' feeling.

It will be the first time I'm going for a camp where I know almost NOBODY since... O Week? Well on the plus side I know one of the councillors and one of the freshies, but it's a whole different dynamic when we are in a new group of people who are unfamiliar with each other.

I don't even know whether the OGL+Councillors are a fun batch, it seems really tentative and uncertain - the OGL only wanted to make identities for the freshies TODAY, on Day 0 -_- We haven't even finalized WHAT exactly the identity is. And he said to meet at 9AM, to which only 1-2 people said they can't make it so early (myself included) until last night, when suddenly 3-4 other people said they will only be coming at night / late afternoon. Dafuq?? Couldn't they have said so earlier? So now I'm not sure how many people is even going to be there with him at 9AM to THINK about what identity to make and start making them. And whether they will finish it in time. Guess I'll find out later.

 

I'm not in the best of conditions too - I'm still nursing a cough which had plagued me for weeks and escalated to epic proportions last Thursday and forced me to go see a doctor for medicine. It is a lot better now for sure, but I'm definitely in no state to be shouting cheers. Hope it goes away completely tomorrow.

And so. Goals I have for this camp? I don't even know. If you asked me 3 weeks ago when I signed up for this, I would have said 'To have fun' and to 'Make many new friends!' but now, my energy level is just so low that I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish those. I'll try I guess. For myself.

 

NUS Arts Camp 2012

Arts Camp just ended less than 24 hours ago, and after hibernating for 13 hours (I think I could probably sleep for 2 more hours but I have things to be done and my throat was really dry), it's time to write this post. This will be a reflections/recap kind of post, and will be naturally long and windy. Let's go.

EDIT: It ended up taking more than a day to write this post, and I was waiting for photos too.

I had several goals for Arts Camp when I signed up.

1) Mingle around more

Last year I went for Arts Camp as a crasher, and I didn't really mix around that much. What that resulted in was in the OG card that I got in the end, many people wrote 'didn't get to talk to you much, but you seem nice' or variations of this. This year I wanted to interact more with everyone and try to talk to everyone and not just talk to an exclusive few.

2) Be a more proactive councillor

Being a crasher last year, I naturally didn't feel any inclination to take any responsibility or do anything. I mean, I am here voluntarily and I'm not an official councillor, so why work so hard? I was slacking around (with fellow crashers) and didn't really contribute much. Less tiring? Yes. Fulfilling? Maybe not as much. Thus this year I signed up as an official councillor, despite being the only one from my batch doing so (as well as being the oldest councillor).

3) Make new good/close friends

I believe in quality over quantity. I would rather have 1 close friend than 10 normal friends. I'm not particularly social (naturally) and am an introvert so I don't thrive in social situations. Thus it's not about meeting new people, it's about meeting the right people.

With that, let me launch into the recap. I will talk about whether I achieved these goals at the end of the entry.

NUS AY 11/12 Semester 2 Results

So... this morning I received the SMS of Doom ™ , and that was after I had woken up at 6AM for god knows why (stupid insomnia) and couldn't sleep for the next hour... and bestie whatsapps me at 6.54AM which jarred me out of my semi-consciousness... and the SMS finally came at 7.10 AM.

This post contains my grades and stuff so if you want to see it read on.

[Insomniac] The Five Stages of Results Day

Another article I wrote for FASS Insomniac:

Results are coming out tomorrow, and that means grief for some. Alan Teo will take us through the 5 stages of grief of results day... and perhaps a silver lining?

On the morning of the 28th, many NUS students will awake to the SMS of Doom™. After just a month of summer vacation, this blissful break is rudely interrupted by your results. For some, the results may be good. However, for many, it tends to be below expectations.

Thus begins the first stage of receiving your results – Denial. As you roll around in your bed groggily, grasping your phone, staring at the SMS that you have received, you’re telling yourself: “No, this can’t be happening. Not to me. I’m still dreaming. Yes, a dream. That must be it.” You put your phone down, close your eyes, and will yourself back to sleep. You want to get back to the ludicrous dreams you were having of flying around the world on clouds,  saving your romantic interest from fatal situations, or getting into the Dean's List.



You wake up several hours later, feeling more refreshed, alert… and BAM! You remember that odd dream you had earlier of receiving bad results. “What a bad dream! Lucky it was only a dream! I should have gotten at least a B+ average given the effort I put in!” You reach over and pick up your phone and have a look for the SMS of Doom™.

Your bad grades stare right back at you.

“Noooo!” You let out a bestial roar which no one in your house notices because you make that sound every morning when you wake up anyway. You toss your iPhone into the corner of your room as you enter the stage of Anger. “Why me?! I worked so hard! It’s not fair!” Then you remembered that you’re not using a Nokia anymore and rush quickly to check if your iPhone is alright. Then you go back to punching your pillow to vent your rage.

 

To continue reading, click here.

NUS Module Review Semester 2 AY 11/12

Once again, I’m going to review the modules that I took this semester. 
If you have any questions, please send it to my email  atqhteo@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.

The modules covered in this post:

PC1325/GEK1508 (Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness)

MKT1003X (Introduction to Marketing)
PL3252 (Social-Cognitive Perspectives of Emotion)
PL3234 (Developmental Psychology)
PH2211 (Philosophy of Religion)

I’ll answer 5 questions for each: What is it about? How’s the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips? Should you take it?

If you want to see previous reviews for

• GEk1519, SE1101E, PL3236, PL3233, PL3240, click this link.


• PL1101E, NM1101E, PH1102E, LAF1201, PL2131, click this link.


• For PL2132, PL3232, SSB2216 , PL3235, PH2110, click this link.

 Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.

NUS AY 11/12 Semester 2 Grades Prediction

IT'S OVER.

I've just completed my final exam, one hell of a tough MCQ for my Marketing module, made worse by the fact that there was negative marking (minus 0.5 marks for each wrong answer)

Regardless, it's over and it's time to partayyyy!! :D

First up, I'll just do a quick prediction of my grades based on the CA + Final Exams... and I'll post the actual module reviews later on in the week. Enjoy your holidays everyone! :D

[Insomniac] The Annoying Students

An article that I wrote for Insomniac, it was published 1-2 days ago, and my editor went to email the whole faculty to publicize it -_- So embarrassing got my name too. Anyway:

Finals are looming, and this is when you see everyone's true colours. Alan Teo brings you through a light-hearted description of some categories of annoying students commonly sighted. Know anyone like these?

The Elites

The Elites have completed their readings two months ago, and their revision several weeks ago. Right now they could be busy with finalizing their prestigious internships during the summer vacation, securing a new business deal for their side entrepreneurial venture, or finishing up the Hunger Games trilogy.

It's stressful to hang around the Elites. They exude an aura of excellence without them even trying to do so. Whenever you celebrate your above-median score of perhaps 80/100 for a quiz, they sit there nonchalantly with their 95/100. While we are analysing the results of this test, they are already analysing the modules to take (and ace) next semester.

While many of us will anticipate the dreaded 8am SMS when results are released in over a month's time, they know in advance what kind of grades they're going to get (probably A+ or A, worst case scenario A-), and are already composing the email to NUS to ask when they should collect their Dean's List certificate for that semester.

Yes, we have no chance against these elite group of people, just like how we have no chance against the Ridiculously Photogenic Guy. While we are all struggling and panting, they are just beaming with their elite, radiant smile.



Check out the rest of the post over at Insomniac! :)

I'm a Guinea Pig!

Being in a university with a strong emphasis on research means that there are always ongoing studies that require participants. These studies often have fairly decent payouts, and since I was staying in hall this semester I decided to sign up for as many as I could. It turned out to be a pretty decent part-time job.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="288" caption="I'm a guinea pig yo!"][/caption]

Falling Below Second Upper Soon

I haven't been blogging for a while due to a number of reasons:

1. My blog inspirations normally arise spontaneously when I'm outside, and the idea usually can be expressed in a tweet. Hence I post it on Twitter instead of further developing it


2. I'm lazy to blog. Blogging takes time. Time is precious.


3. My blogger is tagged to my diabteo account, but my Gmail is tagged to my atqhteo Google account. Thus if I want to blog I have to sign out of my Gmail and sign in. (I've tried the multiple signins feature but it doesn't quite work somehow). Thus, additional trouble

I really do hope to blog more though, especially after exams! I definitely will be when I'm on exchange!

Speaking of exchange, I have rounded up the NUS people going to Boston University as well, all 6 of us. Three are PRCs, three are Singaporeans. Can't say I'm super pleased with that, but I'm trying to stay optimistic! Perhaps they are friendly, sociable, and easy to get along with. And most importantly, fun!
Unfortunately, atm only the girl from Arts seems to be fun and I can get along with. Sigh, we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I have drifted far from the original purpose of this entry. I wanted to do some simple calculations for my predicted grades this sem. I think this sem will be my first sem using an S/U. I'm currently taking 2 modules that can be S/Ued, and I think I may S/U if I get a B or below.

I will do my module review after my last paper, as with every semester so far, but for now just some preliminary forecasting of my grades, without a full review.

My funny psych prof

It all began with this email which my lame Psych prof sent to all of us:

Beloved subjects,
Lo! How art thee? hast thou been hardworking? Thy notes for tis week onculture art up. Thou shalt seest all thee good comest from the notes. Thou shalt be earnest in printing them. alas!
Lord Lim of Yishun

Yes, these are his exact words. I have replaced his surname with 'Lim' in this entire post just for confidentiality's sake, but those who follow my more private Twitter account should know his real name.

Writing Stuff and Statistics

I recently joined Insomniac as a writer, an online publication spearheaded by students from my faculty, FASS. I joined for two reasons - I needed some CCA to speak of, and I like to write.

Since then, I've written two articles: "How to Survive a Date with an Arts Student" and "How to Survive Recess Week", which were published on the Insomniac website.

Both articles (and probably all my future articles) are not serious articles - they do not really provide genuine dating tips (well, besides a few at the end) or anything. They are light-hearted articles in which I infuse my own brand of wit and sarcasm and satire and whatever else I have.

What took me by surprise was how much of an impact they had. I wouldn't go so far as to say they were 'popular', that just seems to be some sort of boast, but perhaps I could just present the stats: